Looking for ideas on how to make your own clothing labels for sewing? I have 9 of them! Professionally made woven or printed labels can be pricey in small batches for home sewists (shop those options here!), so I first turned to Spoonflower. They held up okay, but when I started to run out I wanted to figure out what other options there were. I tried 5 of the main ideas I found and put the sample through 15 normal (cold) washes and (hot) drys to see how they all looked at the end.
While you’re here, you might want to check out these other posts too!
- The sassy woven quilt labels I designed
- Store your new labels in a simple drawstring bag sewing tutorial
- 75+ most popular free PDF sewing patterns
Pin this list of 9 ways to make your own clothing labels with this link or collage photo:
9 ways to make your own clothing labels
1. At home printable fabric – I used this Jacquard Ink Jet Fabric off Amazon. You need an inkjet printer for these, not a laser! I think the at home printed labels actually look better than the Spoonflower ones! I used fusible interfacing on both of them, and around wash 10 it had completely peeled off so I had to stitch some reinforcements around. I trimmed around both of the samples with pinking shears, but it still frayed significantly.
2. Permanent marker! Good old Sharpie. The permanent marker looked about the same as the fabric marker, so I’d save your pennies there and use a Sharpie.
3. Spoonflower labels on Kona cotton
- You can see how Abby at Things for Boys found her (color printed) Spoonflower labels held up
4. Puff paint/fabric paint– this was so messy! I wonder if you could combine it with a freezer paper stencil for a cleaner look?
Above you can see the before & after with 20 wash and dries, they all held up pretty well!
6. Machine stitched labels– if you have a machine with embroidery capabilities, you’ve probably tried this, but I made mine with a plain old sewing machine! It has simple alphanumeric stitch options, making it perfect for simple size tags on scraps.
7. Stamped labels- One of my favorite methods because you can get creative with symbols! More details on the supplies I use for this process in this post; you could also just stamp straight on the fabric.
8. Iron on labels– Use your cutting machine & iron on scraps to make labels that way! See an example at Sew Sophie Lynn.
9. Screenprinted labels– So this example is showing how to diy screenprint, not how I used it to make labels, but the concept would translate easily! See what I made with my DIY screenprinting hack or buy a kit and keep it easy.
Do you make your own labels? Did I miss your favorite method? Let me know!
melissa
Thursday 23rd of April 2015
I love how scientifically you approached this! I have been needing to start making labels and been kicking around some of these ideas. I think the sharpie my be my favorite!
Stephanie - Swoodson Says
Friday 24th of April 2015
Ha, your blog URL/abbreviation gave me pause for a moment when I first read this. Let me know how you like the sharpie when you try it yourself!
Abby Rudakov
Sunday 19th of April 2015
This is a great round up! I think the spoonflower labels I have used have worn pretty well, though the the ones I've used on the boys clothes that have been washed heaps have faded a lot. My personal favourite is the versacraft ink. I've had no fading at all with it. If you've got stamps already, it's great, but would be pretty annoying to have to make stamps up for each thing.
Stephanie - Swoodson Says
Monday 20th of April 2015
I just started washing a tag I used versacraft ink on and it faded so fast.. I am wondering if I didn't heat set it enough? It's held up decently on the clothes I stamped with it. I want to get a custom stamp made for the clothes I make myself, now that I think of it :)
Domenica
Thursday 16th of April 2015
I love printing on fabric! I use my inkjet printer and I love the fact that I can create anything to print (as long as it fits on a piece of printer paper). I've created a video tutorial here if you want to check it out http://www.easysewingforbeginners.com/video-how-to-print-on-fabric-with-an-inkjet-printer-and-freezer-paper-washable-as-well/ So much testing, but it was worth it to finally get great results.
Linda
Tuesday 28th of April 2015
Excellent tutorial Domenica!
Courtney
Wednesday 15th of April 2015
I would have never thought to use the number stitch on your machine for the label...great idea!
Stephanie - Swoodson Says
Friday 17th of April 2015
It's my favorite! Uses up scraps too - win win :) Thanks for reading!
Pam @Threading My Way
Wednesday 15th of April 2015
Clever idea to use the number stitch on your machine, Thanks for the review.